Un hombre de San Juan: aproximación facial en antropología

Within both anthropology and forensic identification, a facial approximation (also known as "facial reconstruction") is often presented as an accomplished fact, with minimal, or no evidence of the research and methods used to achieve the result. This paper presents a detailed overview of the research and methods used for a 2D computer graphic facial approximation of a prehistoric man unearthed in the Jachal Valley, San Juan Province, Argentina. Understood to be a member of the extinct Huarpe, this individual's skull displays many of the morphological features that are consistent with what is known about this group of early Amerindian farmers. Because many of the recommended methods that inform this facial approximation have yet to be verified, and those that have been appropriately tested are based on statistical averages of human variation, the results need to be viewed as indicative of this individual's possible facial appearance using current levels of knowledge, rather than as a definitive result.